Heart Of Darkness
by edschmeltz
Summary: Uses the Xenos from Alien- apart from that, a Halo fanfic. The UNSC Hercules arrives at a frigate which had been sending out a distress call for the past couple of weeks- The Heart of Darkness. A marine squad is sent to instigate the Cole Protocol. Nothing could go wrong. (ONE-SHOT)


Hey everyone! This is a sort of Aliens- Halo crossover...thing. But anyway, it's nice to meet you all! This is my first story, so along with everyone else I BEG YOU ALL to review...And you know, no flames would be nice. NOW ONWARDS TO THE STORY!

Heart of Darkness: A Halo FanFiction

Staff Sergeant Emily Baines took a deep, shuddering breath as she stepped out of the cryo tube, doubling over as she threw up the cryo fluid that rushed up her windpipe. She winced as she tasted the supposedly 'lime' phlegm that was currently inhabiting her mouth, and spat it out quickly onto the cold, metal floor. She looked to the right, and saw around one hundred others going through the same process she was- the entire marine contingent of the UNSC Hercules, a Cairo class frigate. Emily groaned as she stepped heavily out of the cryo tube, grabbing the handle of her locker and yanking it open. She grabbed her fatigue trousers, underwear, and a black UNSC issue T-shirt, and threw them on as fast as she could. Once dressed, she set out through the decks of the ship, the door to the cryo bay slamming shut behind her.

Emily walked through the grim hallways of the Hercules, barging her way through the mess of crew that was heading in all directions. She passed the barracks, the mess, the CIC, until eventually she reached brief room 48-B. As she entered, Emily did a quick head count of her squad- everyone was in attendance. Emily started the briefing with a loud 'ATTEN-HUT!' to get the rowdy soldiers' attention, and then beckoned for them to stand around a holo-table occupying the centre of the room. 'Alright everyone, so now you're all listening, I can actually start. Or rather Adam can.' She fell silent as Adam, the ship's A.I., who began to talk in gruff tones. 'Everyone,' he began, taking off his virtual trench coat, and hanging it on a nearby virtual chair, 'this is the UNSC Heart of Darkness- serial number 02588341. It is another Cairo class, just like us. Two weeks ago, it started broadcasting an Emergency Transponder signal. Our mission today is to board the Heart of Darkness, and activate the Cole Protocol.' 'Adam, have you heard anything from the Heart's A.I.?' asked PFC Henry Sanders, the squad medic. ''Fraid not, Boss' Adam replied. Another voice added to the conversation- Corporal James Valdez, or as he was known 'Heavy Weapons Guy'- snorted loudly. 'Did they _seriously _not activate the Cole Protocol? I mean, even a moron like the FNG over there could do it.' 'I'm sorry, Corporal, but all the intel we have suggests that they did not carry it out, morons or not.' Adam stated. 'That it, Adam?' Emily asked. 'Yes, staff. That is all.' Adam replied and promptly disappeared. 'Good, better throw my two cents in now. Now everyone, this is a SHIP- if we find anything, it will be a CQB fight. Which means Valdez, you take a Flamethrower, Harkin (the squad marksman), you take a DMR, and Doc, take a shotgun. The rest of you, take either SMG's or Assault Rifles- Be at airlock A-15 in ten mikes. Any questions?' Emily waited briefly for a response, and continued, 'Good. Remember, A-15 in ten. Move it!'

Valdez was the last of the squad to arrive, lugging a flamethrower with him, a shark mouth painted on, and a plastic hose attaching it to his back. 'Everyone here?' Emily questioned, and a chorus of 'Yes' or 'Yes ma'am' greeted her. 'Good. The docking tubes are in place, so we'll be walking over to the Heart. FNG, use your plasma torch to cut through the airlock doors, and we'll file in. I'll then take point. ' The huge door of the airlock slowly ground open, and the squad, in full battle armour, slowly trudged forth. After about a minute the squad reached the airlock door of the Heart, and the FNG lit his plasma torch. 'Polarize visors, everyone. This shit's enough to burn your eyes out.' he warned, as he brought the blue flame to the door.

Bright sparks flew off the door as the FNG finally finished cutting through the door, putting the plasma torch away, and kicking down the slab of metal cut from the airlock. The squad filed through to the airlock atrium, and saw... nothing. The lights were out, and the squad turned on helmet lights, illuminating the black room before them. 'Heh...I half expected bodies to be lying all over...' Johnson, a private, commented. 'Everyone,' Emily addressed them. 'Keep a tight hold on your weapons, check your corners, and keep eyes open. Hooah?' a mixed response of 'Hooah' and 'Ooh-rah' s came from the squad, as they carefully made their way into the dark corridors of the ship.

Corporal Joseph Allen-Smith kicked down the set of double doors leading to the mess hall, SMG poised and ready. There had been at least half an hour of winding corridors, and empty rooms. He didn't care what happened to the vessel- he just wanted to be back in his bunk. Allen-Smith was a Flood veteran- having been on the Ark before Master Chief and The Arbiter took it down. He was one of the last marines off...planet? Before it had started to crumble. The squad had seen a hall covered in black, sticky stuff...almost like tar- it had reminded him of the Flood, and he did not like it. He took one look at the mess hall, and vomited. He heard a muffled 'Holy Shit..' from someone as he took in the scene before him. The floor was plastered with blood, and body parts. A few tables had looked to have been re-arranged into a makeshift barricade- probably a defence line. The walls, however, were a different story altogether. They had bodies strung up on the walls using the black stuff- the ribcages ripped open, guts hanging out. Joseph heard a slight moan from one of them. 'Looks like we got a live one!' he said, to no-one in particular, but Doc rushed over to the moaning marine. 'Hey, Hey, can you hear me?' Doc said to the guy. Joseph was surprised to find that he was in a condition to speak. 'Wha..Where am I? You guys from the Heart? I haven't seen you before...' he trailed off, head hanging. 'Hey, hey! Look at me! You sent out a distress call, we're here to help. Why don't you tell me your name?' Doc's tone grew more and more desperate. 'Don't give up on me, man! COME ON!' . The guy looked up, milky eyes trying to focus. 'The pain. It hurts so bad...' The guy drew Doc's Magnum, and placed it to his temple. 'Come on! Don't do this! We can get you to our ship!' The guy beckoned around. 'Bad idea.' He said, and an instant afterwards he pulled the trigger.

'Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.' Doc's face was covered in blood, fragments of bone, and brain. He took a step back from the crewman, looking at the decimated remains of his skull. 'Shit.' That was all he could get out. He may have been a medic, but he had never seen something like this before. Doc tried to look at the man logically. 'He must have known something was wrong...' Doc muttered to himself. 'Whaddya say, Doc? Want to share?' Questioned Sergeant Baines. 'Well ma'am, I think he knew something was wrong with him- otherwise he wouldn't have killed himself...' As soon as Doc finished speaking, a loud crack was heard, and the crewmember's chest _exploded _with a torrent of blood, and internal organs. A small creature bounded out of his chest, tiny claws extended, and flew at Allen-Smith's face. He screamed, a panicked 'Oh SHIT! GET IT OFF ME!' issuing from his muffled face. Heavy Weapons Guy rushed at him, knife out, flamethrower lying on the floor around a foot away from him. He sank his K-Bar II standard issue combat knife into the creature, the thing immediately squealing in pain, and dropping to the floor, before being silenced by a blast from Doc's shotgun. 'Sound off!' the Sergeant ordered. 'FNG here!' 'Doc here!' 'Heavy Weapons Guy here!' 'Clarke, here!' 'Jameson, here!' 'AS, crapping himself, but here!' 'Harken, here!' 'Choi, here!' Emily waited for a response from the other member of the squad, Private McNarama. 'McNarama, you here?' Emily shouted. No response.

The Squad moved through the silent corridors of the Heart, shaken by their recent encounter, and the loss of McNarama. Specialist Harken was shaking, and could hear the grenades rattling against his thigh. The walls grew sticky, and the same black substance they had found in the Mess hall was everywhere. As they moved forwards, their boots started making footprints in the black floor, which squelched as they trudged through it. The squad, much to their relief, finally found their way to the Cryo bay- the room directly behind and below the Bridge, where they could activate the Cole protocol, and, as Valdez so eloquently put it, 'Get the fuck off this shithole before any more of us get taken.' Emily saw the heavy-duty bulkhead door, and immediately set the FNG on it. He fired up the torch, and a minute later they were through.

The squad slowly, carefully entered the room. One thing stood out- the black 'tar' that covered the walls and floor of the other rooms had what looked like giant eggs stuck to it. Suddenly there was a loud crash. Half the squad jumped in fright, lighting the room frantically to see if whatever had took McNarama was back. What the squad did not notice was a few of the eggs opening and small creatures scuttling out. A majority of the squad stood back-to-back, nervously leering into the darkness. Suddenly a creature jumped at the FNG's face, its whipcord tail coiling around his neck. He let out a muffled 'arrgh!', but it was drowned out by the sound of assault rifle, SMG, shotgun and flamethrower fire as the squad opened up on the new horrors that were bursting out of the eggs all around them. A brief but brutal battle ensued, and by the end, the squad looked around to see three of their number writing on the floor, small claw-like creatures attached to their faces. Suddenly the small creatures slackened, and Emily pulled one off the face of Clarke. As she pulled it off, a large proboscis came out of his mouth. The other creatures were pulled off the marines' faces, and they all got back to their feet, choking. FNG, Clarke and Harken had all been affected, but Emily didn't know what to do with them. She deferred to Doc. 'What's wrong with them, Doc?' 'Well,' Doc started, 'they were all affected by these creatures, which inserted the proboscises down their throats...' Doc paled and let out a low groan. 'Emily, could you come with me, please?' Doc calmly asked. 'Doc, you're way out of line. I am your commanding officer, and you will address me as s-' Emily was almost finished with her sentence as Doc once again said, louder this time, 'Emily, I am asking you to come with me.' Emily grudgingly complied as Doc dragged her out of earshot of the rest of the group. 'I'm sorry for that, Sarge,' he began, 'but I might have an idea of what happened to that crewman.'

Emily and Doc, after a heated discussion, returned to the group. 'Alright. FNG, Clarke, Harken, what I believe will happen to you is as follows. I believe that that Crawler has implanted an embryo within you. This will develop for an unknown amount of time, before bursting out of your chest, into a Sneaker.' Clarke vomited, and Harken began to pray. 'As far as I can tell' Doc continued, 'you now have two options. You can either can... self-terminate now, by taking my shotgun, pointing it at your chest, and pulling the trigger, or going away from the group, and waiting. I am so sorry. I truly am.' Doc stated as he held out his shotgun. Harkin picked up the gun. 'It has been my honour to serve with this squad through thick and thin. I always thought of you guys as brothers. I just wanted you to know that.' Harkin finished with a loud 'OOH RAH!' and the sound of a shotgun blast echoed throughout the cryo bay. The FNG cleared his throat. 'Well, I haven't known you for long, hence the title, I guess. I just want to go get that motherfucker who killed McNarama. Coming with me, Clarke?' The FNG questioned. Clarke responded with a hearty 'Hell yeah!' and turned to the crew, to give his final words. 'Well guys, I guess this is it. I'm glad to have served with you, and whatever killed McNarama, we'll go hold it off. Just tell my wife... I'm sorry. Yeah. She'll like that.' And with that, the two men walked out of the tunnel, ARs at the ready.

The remainder of the squad walked into the bridge. 'Goddamn it. Finally we're here.' AS stated. Emily looked across the cramped bridge, looking for the A.I. pedestal. When she found it, she booted it up. A holographic readout came up- WELCOME TO UNSC DATABASE [[HEART OF DARKNESS]] PLEASE WAIT-Soon, a hologram of Adam appeared. The squad looked at Adam for a few moments before Emily asked 'Adam, why are you here?' Adam hung his head in his robotic hands for a few moments before saying, 'I got yanked. The captain has full control of the UNSC Hercules.' 'What?' Emily didn't understand. 'You are the Hercules! You can't just...be here!' 'I'm afraid I am, Staff. I got booted from the system. But we still have a job to do. I have access to the computer systems, but it will take me around five minutes to enact the Cole Protocol.' Suddenly, the FNG's radio came over Emily's helmet speaker. 'Ma'am, we got a problem. A large hostile is heading...r way. You need to get rea...Come in! Sarge! Come...AARGH! TAKE THIS YOU MOTHE...' The transmission trailed off. Emily sighed. 'Alright, Adam, we'll try to but you your five minutes. The rest of you, form up by the door. We've got a bigger problem now.'

Allen- Smith gulped, and gripped his SMG tightly. 'This is it, then, Joesey old chap.' He thought to himself, in a ridiculously fake English accent. He tried to think of his parents, his ex, something, but all he got was the cold claw of dread gripping him. Doc stood between the Sarge and Valdez. He nudged Emily with his shoulder, and opened a private comm channel. 'Emily, let me tell you something. I just have to get it off my chest before we all die here.' 'We won't-'Emily started, but Doc interrupted her. 'Look, Emily, I just wanted to say...I'm really sorry. About everything. Really wishing I hadn't gotten so drunk...maybe I could actually remember what happened...' Emily snorted with laughter at the memory. 'Yeah, you were so drunk you could hardly stand, let alone make your way to that shitty motel room without me.' 'Well Emily, it has been great to have you as my commander, and my friend.' 'You too, Henry. You too.' A loud clang erupted from the floor in front of the squad. A second later a huge black _thing_ erupted from the floor. Emily didn't even give the order to fire, as assault rifles and SMGs opened up, the flamethrower doused the thing in burning napalm, and Henry methodically started to fire his shotgun. In one great sweep of its spiny tail, the thing bisected Jameson, a few of his organs flying out of his chest. Choi backed against a nearby wall, firing his SMG wildly. He scored a few hits, the thing spraying green blood out of the orifices in its carapace, but all the rounds did was make it angrier. It thrust its tail through Choi, destroying the body armour that he was wearing, and getting its tail stuck in the wall behind him in the process. The thing yanked out its tail, and sent it flying at Allen-Smith. It speared Allen-Smith in the chest, and brought him up to its vicious teeth. As Allen-Smith stared at the creature, he spat out, 'Fuck...You...' at it before coughing blood up and going limp a few moments later. At the sight of this, Valdez howled in rage, slamming into the creature. He leapt up onto its large head, finding a handheld on its spiny, triangular crest, before priming a Frag grenade, and stuffing it behind him. Emily and Doc watched in awe as Valdez's suicidal plan came to fruition. The grenade exploded, and the napalm in the flamethrower tanks, which had long since become detached from the flamethrower itself, ignited in a brilliant cloud of sticky fire. The Alien screeched in pain, as its chitinous plating boiled, frying the organs and flesh beneath. It collapsed, along with Valdez's scorched body, onto the deck plating of the Heart. 'Cole Protocol completed' Adam simply stated, as Doc walked up to the dead behemoth, and blew its head in with his shotgun. He turned to Emily, and simply said, 'It's over'.

Captain Brook of the Hercules looked at the drifting mass of frigate he had just decoupled from. He had received word from ONI- the Office of Naval Intelligence- that nothing should leave that frigate alive. Including his squad. He sighed, and sadly looked up at the Heart of Darkness. He vaguely heard a 'MAC warmed up, and all Archers ready!' from the gunnery officer, and ordered him to fire all missiles.

Doc looked at Emily, both of them dehelmeted, and staring into the dark expanse of space, sitting in front of the bridge's vast windows. Doc had noticed, around half an hour ago, that the Hercules had decoupled, and had consigned to his fate when Adam had announced that the other frigate was on an intercept course. So here he sat, arm around Emily, with her head on his shoulder, looking into the vast blackness, dotted with tiny pinpricks of light. He suddenly saw hundreds of tiny new lights- probably Archer missiles. Emily looked up at him. 'It's beautiful, isn't it? Never really stopped to appreciate it.' 'Yeah, it's amazing. Just like you.' Emily turned towards him, and playfully punched him in the arm, with a large grin on her face. 'Aww, stow it Private, you cheesy SOB.' 'I'm afraid I can't do that, ma'am...' Henry replied, with his poker face on. Emily noticed the tiny pinpricks of light inching closer all the time, and simply stated, 'Just shut up and kiss me.'


End file.
